The Brookhaven leader., 1887-12-01
THE SPIRIT OF ANARCHY
IN MISSISSIPPI.


few short weeks ago. Parsons,
Spies, Engle, Lingg, Fischer and their
thousands of Anarchists sympathi.
zcrs. from the day the law laid its
iron hand upon them, began to de
nounce and villify the agents of the
law. The attorney who prosecuted,
the witnesses who testified for the
State. the Judge and the jury who
tried the case, were maligned and de-
nounccd and threatened at every
turn. When the case was carried to
the supreme Courts of Illinois and of
the United States, and those august
tribunals refused. on legal grounds, To
disturb the sentence Of the lower
court, they IN turn were denounced
and their motives impugned. And
when the Governor of Illinois was
finally appealed to to save the guilty
men Ivy the intervention of Executive
cfelncncy. and refused, he too was de-
and the bitterness and rcvilngs against
all these agents of the law still gocson
in greater or less degree among the
partisans of the condcmned and cxccu
ted Anarchists. Few. however, ever
suspected that history Of the great
Anarchist case was to be repeated on
a smaller scale in Mississippi, hut il il
even SO. No sooner had the COroncr'S
jury of oath-bound men, sworn to
carefully and impartially investigate
the killing of X. ID. Gambrell, return
ed their verdict that the deceased
came to bis death lat the hands of j.
:. Hamilton aud Others than they at
once became the objects of dcnuncia-
ton and ridicule of the Jealous parti-
sans of the bloody handed murderer
whose subtle and all prevailing power
until that time was not fully known.
Mingled with their denunciations of
the coroner's jury and the murdered
victim of their chief, these partisans
cried out "Wait until there is an in
vestigatiOn 10y the court, and if the
verdict of the Coroner'S jury is
sustained, we too will.join in the cry
for Justice which the people have
raised" But 10! When Il long, patient
and searching investigation was had
before Chancellor Peyton, and that
just and upright judge decided adj
verscly to the big criminal and other
accused, instead of joining i'll the de-
mand for justice, the followers of
Hamilton began straightway to de
nounce PeytOn for weakness and aScribe
unworthy motives for the decision he
had rendered Meantime the grand
Jury who indicted Hamilton, the at
torneys for the State, the dead young
man and his honored and grief
stricken father, and every one else
who dared to openly express an opin
ion at variance with their own and
demand that justice be done, was de-
nounced and slandcred and maligned
in a way that has seldom been wit
messed. Then these Jealous cham
pions of prosecuted Saint Hamilton
yearned with an exceeding great
yearn to have the case appealed to
the Supreme Court and the decision
of Judge Peyton, the finding of the
grand jury, and the verdict of the
coroner's jury and the people vacated
ut one fell swoop. They had conf
dence in the ability, Judgment and
Justice of the Supreme Judges, they
said, and knew this would be done.
Chief among them was that champion
of all that is bad, the Vicksburg Com
mercial Herald, il paper that begun Il
shameless attack on the character Of
the murdered young editor before the
grave had closed over his mortal
remains.
We now quote from the Commercial
Herald since the decision of the high
est judicial tribunal in the State has
spoken:
Judge Cooper and Judge Campbell
were UNABLE TO STAND AGAINST THE
WILD CLAMoR OF THEIR PARTY. Judge
Arnold stood alone high above the MO-
TIvEs that actuated his associates and
gave his strong will to uncOmprOmis-
ing justice.
These (Juges Cooper and Campbeil)
thought to EFFECT A COMPROMISE be
tween Justice and the DEMANDS OF
THEIR PARTY, and released Eu-
banks.
Where now, in the name of just
God, is there reason for OBTAINING
Hamilton in close confinement and
branding him with the suspicion of
assassination? THERE IS A CAUSE but
a cause void of reason, and 1T lies in
in the fact that EVEN GREAT MEN often
CRUSH THE VOICE OF CONSCIENCE at
the loud command of POLICY.
True the Herald, under the indig-
nant protest of Lawyer reader and
others who advised it not to ''impair
the confidence of the people in the
Courts" but to ''leave this to the An
archists," recanted next day as follows,
but the apology, besides being redicu-
lousIv characteristics of the Herald, is